Lady Thalia moves closer, Finnick still perched on her shoulder. She reaches to gently place a hand on the woman’s arm. Evangeline tenses as if not used to touch, but only for a moment. Lady Thalia is a healer by nature and has a way of calming even the unruliest of patients. “Don’t talk about yourself like that, dear girl. You were brought into this world and left to fend for yourself. This is not how we wanted to greet you.”
“No,” Niko agrees. The anger in his voice is palpable. For a fae who’s rarely jostled, Niko is far more upset by this than he’s letting on. His emotions rage inside ourbond. “The Guardian promised to bring you here safely. He should have protected you. Did he say why he left?”
“He didn’t, but…” Evangeline hesitates, as if not sure how much she should say. An encouraging nod from Lady Thalia has her continuing. “What did you call those creatures again?”
“Nephilim?” Finnick supplies.
“Yeah, those. When Ender brought me here, one of the Nephilim was approaching us. But then it saw The Guardian and backed away, back into the forest. He left shortly after that without explaining why.”
Niko meets my gaze, frowning. He ponders the same unasked question. Why did the Nephilim leave The Guardian alone? The bastard isn’t here to ask, which seems far too convenient for my liking and does little to improve my mood.
“What do you know of us and your role here?” I cut in.
Evangeline’s blush only darkens, but it may be from the cold. The temperature has dropped, and the sun is settling rapidly in the west.
“I don’t think now is the time to question the girl,” Lady Thalia interjects, looking between her sons and me. I grit my teeth, holding back my ire. Does no one else see the value in getting answers before we make our next move? Time is luxury, one we no longer have. Every minute—hell, everysecond—is critical.
And yet, even if I explain myself, it won’t matter. They want to make the woman comfortable. Everything else comes second, even my feelings on the matter.
Finnick flutters off Lady Thalia’sshoulder and lands on Evangeline’s round nose. “Do you want me to retrieve your weapon?”
“My…weapon?” she asks, confused.
“The mighty pot you used to slay the beast,” Finnick says with all the dramatics the little sprite can muster. “A weapon like that shouldn’t be left unattended. Might fall into the wrong hands, and we wouldn’t want that.”
A ghost of a smile plays on Evangeline’s lips, and her shoulders droop slightly. A small piece of her armor coming off. “I would like that very much. I’ll need my suitcase too. I can go?—”
“I’ll go with Finnick to retrieve your things, dear girl,” Lady Thalia says.
Niko nods in agreement and takes a cautious step toward Evangeline. She doesn’t back away this time but looks upon him curiously. “I’m afraid I can’t take you back to the castle tonight,” he says gently. “Too many of our soldiers need healing before they can travel. But I can take you to our tent. You’ll be safe there, and it’s warmer than out here.”
“A tent? Like an outside tent?”
Niko stares at her curiously. “Does your world have inside tents?”
“Well…no, we don’t,” she mutters. Evangeline looks as if she wants to bolt again, but at the last minute changes her mind.
She’s going to be a problem. Not our solution.
Another body to keep safe and another mouth to feed.
Perhaps Niko and I didn’t think this plan through thoroughly.
Feeling my wayward thoughts, Niko reaches out and clasps my hand, giving me a reassuring squeeze. “It’s just a ten-minute walk. We can talk once we get you warm.”
With a slight nod, Evangeline steps forward and ignores Niko’s outstretched hand. Her refusal doesn’t faze my mate—very little does—and instead he walks by her side. I’ve never seen a human before, and I find I can’t look away from her.
Word has made it to us from the other kingdoms that the human women Ender has brought over have all helped ensure their kingdoms’ safety. But who is to say Ender is always right? Why do we continue to put so much unwavering trust in him?
We asked for a savior, and he brought us a chef in a world where food is scarce. This seems like a cruel prank to play on us. Allowing us to get our hopes up, only to crush them in the end.
With that sobering thought, I follow behind Niko and Evangeline. We make the walk back to our tent in silence.
Chapter 11
Niko
The human is tenacious; I’ll give her that. Few people could survive being dropped into a new place alone with nothing but their suitcase contents to defend themselves. She ran from my mother and Finnick when they offered her help, but I can’t blame her for that. They are strangers to her.
